With total energy consumption being predicted to at least double by the year 2050, there is a need to develop alternative sources of energy. One solution to the challenge of creating sustainable long-term solutions for global energy needs is solar driven production of environmentally friendly fuels like hydrogen. Harnessing solar energy can be done through a number of systems, including microorganisms such as cyanobacteria, which can generate hydrogen directly from water using sunlight. CyanoBioEnergy proposes a programme to understand and considerably improve the process of photosynthesis coupled to the H2-evolving enzyme hydrogenase including the exploration how cyanobacteria can, using a systems biology approach, produce renewable and CO2 neutral sources of energy.